The subject matter herein relates generally to terminus assemblies that terminate optical cables.
Connector systems are often used to optically couple two optical cables to each other. Within such connector systems, the optical cables are terminated by complementary terminus assemblies that mate together to establish an optical connection between the optical cables. At least some known terminus assemblies that terminate optical cables include a terminus body having a cable passage that receives an end of the corresponding optical cable. The optical cable end is held within the cable passage such that a tip segment of a glass optical fiber of the optical cable is exposed for mating with the complementary terminus assembly. More specifically, the tip segment of the glass optical fiber optically couples to a tip segment of a glass optical fiber of the other optical cable, which is held by the complementary terminus assembly.
Known terminus assemblies that terminate optical cables are not without disadvantages. For example, the tip segments of the glass optical fibers must be sufficiently aligned to optically couple to each other. Accordingly, at least some known terminus assemblies include components that facilitate aligning the tip segments when the terminus assemblies are mated together. For example, the tip segments of the glass optical fibers may optically couple together within a mating receptacle of the connector system. The mating receptacle may include an alignment sleeve that aligns the tip segments relative to each other as the complementary terminus assemblies are mated together. Moreover, and for example, the terminus assemblies may include ferrules that extend around the tip segments of the glass optical fibers to align the tip segments relative to each other as the complementary terminus assemblies are mated together. But, such alignment components may increase a cost and/or complexity of the connector system and/or the complementary terminus assemblies thereof. For example, the ferrules may be secured to the tip segments of the glass optical fibers using an epoxy, which may be time-consuming and/or labor intensive. Moreover, such alignment components may decrease a reliability of the connector system and/or the complementary terminus assemblies thereof. For example, the alignments sleeves and/or ferrules may be fragile components that may be prone to failure.